With all due respect to Dodgers manager Don Mattingly, who respectfully declined to think too far down the road when the calendar flipped over from August to September on Sunday, but with the club continuing to tinker with the roster despite leading its division by 11 1/2 games, it’s pretty obvious the objective is now setting things up correctly for a deep run in the postseason.

“You’re just looking for guys who can help you,” Mattingly said.

The latest addition was veteran infielder Michael Young, whom the Dodgers acquired from the Philadelphia Phillies late Saturday night to beef up bench depth.

“Quality player, playoff experience, played in the World Series and can play all over the field,” Mattingly said of Young.

By sliding Young into the fold before 9 p,m. Saturday night, he’s eligible to be on the 25-man playoff roster. Same with Edinson Volquez, a live-arm — albeit struggling — starting pitcher who, if he’s right, can be an intriguing arm out of the bullpen at some point.

The Dodgers added Volquez last week, and will give him this month to show he can be counted on during the postseason.

Same with fellow reliever Brian Wilson, who joined the club two weeks ago and will audition for a playoff role over the final weeks of the regular season.

That’s what it’s come to for the Dodgers, whose only concern the rest of the way is staying healthy and avoiding some sort of epic, unfathomable collapse.

Assuming they close out the division as expected — and stay healthy — they’ll fly into the postseason a prohibitive favorite to get to the World Series.

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They may not admit that, but they know that.

Which is why the Dodgers were stockpiling potential playoff help literally right up to the last second possible this week, creating an interesting subplot to what’s become the routine process of winning their division.

The only drama remaining being who ends up making the coveted 25-man playoff roster?

To find out, you’ll have to pay attention the rest of the way.

Because make no doubt, players like Wilson and Chris Capuano and Brandon League and Carlos Marmol will spend the rest of September fighting for a chance to make that coveted roster.

Which gives the rest of the season a bit of a spring training feel to it.

And that’s not even considering Matt Kemp, who is rehabbing his sprained left ankle in the minor leagues and hopes to re-join the Dodgers in a few days.

When he does, the objective the next month will be figuring out the best 25-man team the Dodgers can soar into the playoffs with a roster that might look decidedly different than the one that broke spring training.

Maybe not in the everyday lineup, but certainly the bench, the starting rotation and in the bullpen.

You’re only as good as your weakest link, the saying goes, and the Dodgers are working diligently to make sure they have all their bases covered.

“You’re always trying to get better,” Mattingly said.

This is no longer about making the playoffs.

It’s about doing something special once they get there.

Mattingly won’t go there — yet — but then again, he’s paid to worry about the daily grind and the Dodgers’ magic number of 18 to clinch a playoff spot.

Not how the 25-man playoff roster will look when they do.

That’s fine. Baseball players are a superstitious bunch, and it behooves Mattingly to focus on the task at hand rather than be accused of jinxing the Dodgers’ playoff hopes by publicly assuming something so elusive as a division title or postseason berth.

But the playoffs are imminent at this point, and even the Dodgers know that.